Woman Attacked Petting Cheetah: When Will We Learn That We Can’t Play With Wild Animals?

Folks just don’t learn! 60 year old Violet D’Mello, was wrestled to the ground by a captive big cat after she went into an enclosure at a wildlife park where tourists are invited to pet the animals.

The shaken housewife, from Aberdeen, was on vacation with her 64 year old husband Archie, when the terrifying incident happened. She explained in a recent interview how she was thrown to the ground as two cheetahs mauled at her head, stomach and legs.

A guide at the game park in the Indian Ocean town of Port Elizabeth managed to pulled the second cat off Mrs. D’Mello, but even as he did so, the first cheetah rejoined the fray, pinning her to the ground and biting and gouging her legs.

It was only when a group of park visitors worked together to pull the two animals off her that Mrs. D’Mello was able to make a dash for the petting pen’s gate. Amazingly, Mrs. D’Mello’s husband Archibald had been outside the pen throughout the ordeal where he captured these astonishing pictures of the attack as it happened.